Hawkeye Reporter

Dordt University recently issued the following announcement.

According to the Career Development Center at Dordt University, 99.2 percent of Dordt’s class of 2020 found employment or were accepted to graduate school within six months of graduation.

“Even in the difficult employment environment caused by a global pandemic, these graduates displayed creativity, flexibility, patience and an overall resiliency that really impressed me,” says Amy Westra, associate director of career development. “They graduated into a frozen job market where employers simply were not hiring. Those who did land a job right away experienced virtual onboarding, working in home offices, isolated from co-workers and supervisors. Many of these graduates were hired later in the summer or early fall. We saw a delay in meeting our typically high career outcome rate, but they did succeed in landing jobs in a wide variety of industries.”

“I had some uncertainties when I entered the full-time workforce for the first time, but my education combined with various internship experiences made it a smooth transition,” says Nicolas Kuperus (’20), who serves as an engineer at Collins Aerospace.

The Career Development Center offers students a variety of services to assist with their job search or graduate school applications.

“I had the opportunity to work closely with Amy Westra and Missy Mulder in career services,” says Kuperus. “They were both invaluable resources as I developed professionally, and they helped me with everything from resume formatting to preparing for career fairs. In addition, they worked to develop my interviewing skills and introduced me to various contacts as I started my professional network. They were always eager to assist, and I would not be in the position I am now if it were not for their help and input during my time at Dordt.”

“As a career center, we provide a full menu of services to empower our students to stand out in the job search – things like resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile reviews; practice interviewing; and connections to alumni and business professionals,” says Westra. “These are all optional services at Dordt, but we find that well over half of our students choose to take advantage of what we offer.”

Dordt strives to make a unified effort across campus to help students develop in all areas of life, not just in their future careers. As he looks back, Kuperus recognizes the various ways he developed and grew at Dordt.

“In the four years I spent at Dordt, I grew spiritually, socially, technically, and professionally,” says Kuperus. “There are plenty of great things about Dordt, but one of Dordt's key distinguishing factors that impacted me so much was the class size and the availability and investment of the faculty members in their students. I developed many personal relationships with faculty members in and out of the engineering department. The faculty genuinely want to see you succeed and reach your highest potential. They are quick to go the extra mile and challenge you academically and spiritually.”

The well-roundedness of Dordt University alumni is recognized in the industry as they seek to fulfill Dordt’s mission to work toward Christ-centered renewal in all areas of life.

“The thing that stands out to me the most is their commitment to helping people day in and day out,” says Dave Kooiman, president at Arena Staffing in California. “All of our Dordt grads buy into our core values and truly believe we can help construct the future for others. They put God first, are humble in their approach with candidates and clients, and appreciate an environment of accountability, collaboration, and consistency that make us all better.”

To learn more about Dordt’s career outcome rate visit Dordt.edu/more-after-dordt.

Original source can be found here.